In another ten years, Miami Dolphins fans will not remember anything about what Chris Grier brought to the team. He will disappear like Randy Mueller, Dennis Hickey, and, to some degree, Jeff Ireland. Grier wasn't consistent in his job, and it ultimately led Stephen Ross to make a change.
The Dolphins' general manager search started when the team was still playing football; it officially got underway when the season ended. It took one week to conclude with the hiring of Jon-Eric Sullivan. Now, Dolphins fans want to know who they are getting to replace Grier.
For starters, Sullivan brings something that Grier never had; successful mentors.
Chris Grier, unlike Jon-Eric Sullivan, only knew what losing was like with the Miami Dolphins
Since 2016, Grier's time with Miami produced only five winning seasons. Two of those were 9-8 seasons. Miami reached the playoffs just three times and didn't win a single game, nor a division title. For Grier, however, his struggles were only a microcosm of his history with the Dolphins.
Grier's career with the Dolphins began as a scout in 2000. His first three seasons were spent with Dave Wannstedt. Miami went 11-5, 11-5, and 9-7. In 2003, he was promoted to Assistant Director of College Scouting. Miami went 10-6 that year. They would have only four winning seasons between then and 2016.
Grier learned to do his job from Randy Mueller, Jeff Ireland, and Dennis Hickey. He would learn from Mike Tannenbaum, and throughout it all, he learned more about losing than he ever did about winning, because the Dolphins couldn't consistently do it.
Now, Dolphins fans will get Sullivan. The new GM came into the league at the same time Grier was getting his first promotion in 2003. He began his Packers' career as a training camp intern before being hired as a Football Operations employee. He served in that role for four seasons.
His first scouting job came in 2008, a job he would serve in different regions through the 2015 season. Sullivan was doing legwork for the Packers. He got the Director of College Scouting job in 2016 and, in 2018, became the Co-Director of Player Personnel. In 2022, he became the VP of player personnel.
Throughout all of this, Sullivan was learning what it takes to win. To find players and develop them, he watched the coaches take his work and turn them into winners. Since 2003, the Packers have had only six seasons at or below .500. They went to the playoffs 16 times and won a Super Bowl.
While Grier was learning from the likes of Mueller and Tannenbaum, Sullivan got to learn early from Mike Sherman, who took over the GM job from Ron Wolf. Ted Thompson would replace him, another Wolf acorn. Since 2018, Sullivan has been working behind Brian Gutekunst.
One GM knew mostly winning, the other knew mostly the opposite. It's unclear if Sullivan will take what he learned and be able to apply it to the Dolphins, but we know Grier wasn't able to.
Sullivan will inherit the mess that Grier left. Bloated contracts, a quarterback problem, and salary cap purgatory. If he can get the Dolphins out of those messes, he will have done more than Grier was able to do.
The Dolphins are heading for a massive rebuild. They won't say they are, but they are. Tua Tagovailoa will be gone after the 2026 season, if not this offseason. Tyreek Hill and Bradley Chubb have one season left if they are lucky. Grier took chances at the cost of building parts of his roster; the Packers tend to be well-rounded.
Over the course of the last nine seasons, Miami has been known to be fast, but not physical. They have been finesse rather than in-your-face. Throughout all of those nine years, 2023 was the only time when the offense forced defenses to change. The Packers have done it every year.
Sullivan may not be a great GM, but he will eventually get a blank canvas and salary cap to work with, but first, he has to break it all down and rebuild it.